Drop-side devices expected to be target. More than 5 million cribs recalled since the start of 2007.
The federal agency in charge of product safety plans to announce a crib recall on Tuesday.
“There is a crib recall tomorrow, and it’s going to be really important for all parents to pay attention,” said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “There is also a larger effort by CPSC to put in mandatory rules to make all cribs safer.”
Wolfson did not provide further details, though media reports indicated that the recall will target drop-side cribs, cribs whose sides slide down. More than 5 million cribs, bassinets and play yards have been recalled since the beginning of 2007, according to CPSC.
This includes the recall of 400,000 drop-side cribs by manufacturer Simplicity in July, as the result of some fatalities, according to the CPSC. The agency also said that 600,000 drop-side cribs were recalled by Delta Enterprise in October. The recalls were prompted by concerns that infants and toddlers could get trapped by the mechanism of the crib and suffocate. “This has certainly been a hazard that we’ve been aware of for some time,” said Nancy Cowles, director of Kids In Danger, a Chicago-based advocacy group. Drop-side cribs have been associated with “dozens of deaths” over the years, she added.
Toys “R” Us, one of the largest retailers of nursery furniture, said it has decided to stop placing orders for drop-side cribs and expects to stop carrying them by the end of 2009. Jennifer Albano, a Toys “R” Us spokesperson, said the company supports proposed standards that would, among other things, require that cribs no longer be manufactured with a drop-side. Albano said a consortium of crib manufacturers, consumer safety advocates and a products standards organization met with the CPSC in March to discuss the possibility of changing voluntary production standards for cribs as part of ongoing efforts to improve safety.
However, no official decision has been made and Toys “R” Us does still have some drop-side cribs in stock, Albano said. The legislature in Suffolk County, N.Y., at the eastern end of Long Island, banned sales of the drop-side crib in October.